This is a short story of my old Mule.
It's a 2001 BMW E39 523i. I bought it in 2015, and although the engine, the auto, the body, paint, electrics and interior were very good for its age, it's rubber and plastics were very tired. Age catches up to even the best of us eventually.
Saggy suspension, perished tires chewing out on the inside edge, bent and buckled wheels and many plastic parts cracking and brittle with age. The car had been in one family for a very long time, and was rarely used, and thus rarely maintained, but driven gently, hence the reason it survived in such great shape.
I have traveled about about 15,000 km with this car so far, driven all over Thailand, and it never misses a beat.
This particular model of 5 series, the E39, was the last of the analogue cars, and the last of the era when Germany over engineered cars and were truly focused on quality over all else.
The E39 (1996-2003) is widely regarded as the best car BMW ever made, and they best touring sedan the world ever produced.
It drives like dream, plenty of power, dead silent in the cabin, and the styling is ageless.
First pic taken the day I bought it. A clean, but tired car. Notice orange tail lights..
First job - replace all the bushes, steering arms, and any rubber components of the suspension.
Next - 4 New tyres immediately! These tyres were maybe 10+ years old...
Next - have the wheels (AC SChnitzer Type III 18") restored. They are high-end wheels made in Germany specifically for this car, but after 15 years they were bent, buckled, scratched, slightly cracked etc (top 3 pics).
Dropped them off at the shop and 3 weeks later - like Brand new!
Next was The engine -
Front off to replace the dying AC compressor, and a bunch of other little jobs..
Slight oil leak - New rocker cover gasket..
Dump that nasty 250K km old trans fluid.
BMW claimed back then that it was 'lifetime' fluid - as in never needed changing. They've since gone back on that claim and now recommend changing it every 100K km. Trans fluid (ATF) should be red in colour. What came out was a black soup of nastiness..
A coomon problem with these LCD screens is pixel failure on both gauge cluster and MID screen. It's not actually the pixels but the 'ribbon' connector from screen to circuit board that fails. Fixed.
Set of silver gauge rings added.
New 'Guibo' - flexible rubber coupling link in the driveline. Left is old one - you can see the deterioration.
They have a history of exploding unannounced when in this poor a condition, then the driveshaft drops into the ground and potentially pole-vaults the car onto it's roof at speed - no thanks. Exhaust-out job to replace.
![IMG_6693.JPG]
Amber turn signals went out of style and production around the time this car was made.
I changed the tail lights from it's original LED with the Amber turn signals to a clear turn signal. Why? Purely cosmetic, but I think it makes a huge difference to towards modernizing the look of the car.
Note addition of a 'lip' spoiler some months ago.
(
(
![IMG_6691.JPG]
(
Detail
New spark plugs last week. Old ones look like they are original :/
And the list goes on;
4 x Tyres: CONTINENTAL 225/45–ZR18
1 x A/C compressor, dryer container & Freon
1 x Suspension rebuild - F&R
4 x Full restoration of 4 wheels
1 x Set Clear OEM CELIS tail lights
1 x cluster repair, incl. DHL & labour
1 x 2nd wheel repair
1 x Auxiliary A/C condenser fan (orig.)
1 x New Battery 100Amp, dry cell, maint. free
2 x Front fender liners incl. shipping
1 x 7L Liqui Moly 5W-40 oil
1 x Transmission filter & gasket kit
1 x 7L Mobil1 0W-40 Oil
5 x litres trans. fluid
2 x steering arms
1 x Coil pack - cylinder No. 2
2 x Rear ball joints
2 x Oil - Mobil1, full synthetic (5W – 30) 8L
1 x Bluetooth connectivity kit
1 x Rocker cover gasket set
6 x NGK BKR6EQUP Spark Plugs
1 x set MID & dash screen ribbon cables
1 x rear boot lid spoiler
1 x AC Schnitzer wheel centre cap (orig.)
1 x BMW badge - front (orig.)
1 x set of 4 wheel aluminium hub rings
1 x Set 4 ABS sensors
1 x driveline flex coupling
1 x Oil pressure switch
1 x Charcoal cabin air filter - set of 2
1 x Bonnet gas struts set
1 x pair ‘Angel Eyes’ lights LED CREE 20W
1 x Tint front windows - Hi-Kool 50%
1 x Bosch wiper blade set
1 x set, 2 new front grille
1 x Boot lid gas struts set
1 x headlight ballast R/H
2 x replace rear axle collar nuts
1 x oil filter housing O-rings x 2
1x Bosch oil filter 08/07/16
1 x Magnetic sump drain plug/bolt
1 x pair steering rack boots
1 x MANN brand eng. oil filter
1 x dashboard Gauge rings
1 x Pair ‘Angel Eye’ lights LED 5W upgrade
1 x Air Con re-gas
1 x Fuel filter
1 x washer motor
1 x oil filter
1 x Headlight bulb
1 x Oil service dash light reset gadget
1 x Set: ‘AC Schnitzer’ valve stem caps
1 x oil change labour
1 x anti-freeze/boil/inhib.
...and on and on.
(looking back at this list I'm a little shocked as just how many jobs I've done on this car).
I do NOT recommend these aging luxo-barges if you're the type that just wants a car that you just put fuel in and go.
But - if your mechanically inclined, like the challenge, and providing that you find a good one to begin with, these late 90's/early 00's luxo-barges are great cars - far superior to any modern Japanese car by far.
(
(
Here's a short vid I made when practicing video making one day..
I may update this post as I do more work to the car in the future...
Thanks for reading. :)
